Our Last Projections Before The Committee Speaks
Before we get going this week let’s take a moment to pay respect to Vince Dooley, who passed away on Friday at 90 years old. During his 25 years at Georgia Dooley won 210 games and the 1980 National Championship. Now as we mentioned at the beginning the first committee standings come out on Tuesday. We’ll have a much better idea how they view the teams. With that in mind let’s start our 2022 Week Nine Bowl Projections and see what’s changed from last week.
College Football Playoff
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl- December 31st- (1) Georgia vs. (4) Clemson- Kirby Smart’s team blew out Florida 42-20 in Jacksonville. They host Tennessee in an epic battle of unbeatens. They remain in the top spot though that could change next week.
Dabo Swinney’s club had the week off before heading to South Bend for a battle against Notre Dame. The Tigers probably won’t be in the top four on Tuesday but remember this is how we think they’ll be rated in December.
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl- December 31st- (2) Ohio State vs. (3) Tennessee- The Volunteers made it look easy in a 44-6 blow out of Kentucky. Hendon Hooker and company are 8-0 for the first time since 1998. Ironically that’s the last time the Vols won the national championship.
The Buckeyes trailed Penn State 21-16 in the fourth quarter on Saturday. However behind an epic performance from defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau OSU turned the deficit into a 44-31 win.
College Football National Championship- January 9th- (1)- Georgia vs. (2) Ohio State- If this match-up holds true this is only the second meeting of all time between the two schools. Georgia won the 1993 Citrus Bowl 21-14.
Selection Committee Games
Orange Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. SEC/Big 10/Notre Dame
North Carolina vs. Penn State- Despite the loss to Ohio State the Nittany Lions are still headed to Miami. On the other side of the ball, Wake Forest’s loss is the Tar Heels’ gain. Drake Maye threw five touchdowns as UNC outscored Pittsburgh 21-0 in the fourth quarter on the way to a 42-24 win.
Sugar Bowl- December 31st- SEC vs. Big 12
Alabama vs. TCU- The Crimson Tide had the week off before playing LSU on Saturday night. Max Duggan threw three touchdowns as the Horned Frogs beat West Virginia 41-31.
Cotton Bowl- January 2nd- At Large vs. At Large
Tulane vs. USC– As a result of Cincinnati losing to Central Florida the Green Wave are now the Group Of Five representative. Coastal Carolina also merits consideration here too. The Trojans had a tougher than expected time with Arizona before winning 45-37.
Rose Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. Pac 12
Michigan vs. Oregon- Jim Harbaugh’s club pulled away from Michigan State in a game that unfortunately made more headlines for what happened after the game. The Ducks are rolling and have an outside shot as the playoff.
Right now we have 36 teams who have reached bowl eligibility which means we need 46 more teams. As we hit November we’re wondering if the ACC and Big 10 will have enough teams to fill their slots. A * means a replacement team.
Games Around The New Year
Citrus Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. SEC- Illinois vs. LSU- The Fighting Illini had an easy time with Nebraska and have a real chance of finishing 10-2. The Tigers had the week off before hosting Alabama.
ReliaQuest Bowl- January 2nd- Big 10/ACC vs. SEC- Ole Miss vs. Purdue- With the Rebels’ big win over Texas A&M and Kentucky’s huge loss we’re swapping them this week. The Boilermakers are still headed to Tampa.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. Big 10- Florida State vs. Minnesota
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. Pac 12- Syracuse vs. Washington
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl- December 30th- Big 10 vs. SEC- Kentucky vs. Notre Dame- The Wildcats had a chance to make a statement, instead they laid a giant egg against Tennessee. As mentioned earlier the suddenly resurgent Fighting Irish host Clemson this week. These two schools have never met before.
Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl- December 30th- Mountain West vs. Mid-American- San Diego State vs. Toledo
Music City Bowl- December 31st- Big 10 vs. SEC- Maryland vs. South Carolina
Post-Christmas Day Games
Quick Lane Bowl- December 26th–Big 10 vs. Mid-American- Buffalo vs. *UAB- Can Michigan State or Rutgers get to six win? Right now it’s doubtful so we’re sending the Blazers to Detroit.
Birmingham Bowl- December 27th- Pool vs. ACC/SEC- Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech- The Aggies’ bowl hopes are hanging by a thread more flimsy than 10 year old underwear.
Camellia Bowl- December 27th– Pool vs. Pool- Liberty vs. South Alabama
First Responder Bowl- December 27th- Big 10 vs. Pool- Oklahoma State vs. SMU
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. Big 10- Kansas vs. Wisconsin
Military Bowl- December 28th-ACC vs. American- Central Florida vs. Miami (Florida)
Liberty Bowl- December 28th-Big 12 vs. SEC- Florida vs. Oklahoma
Holiday Bowl- December 28th- ACC vs. Pac 12- Duke vs. Utah
Texas Bowl- December 28th- SEC vs. Big 12- Arkansas vs. Baylor
Pinstripe Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 10- Iowa vs. North Carolina State
Cheez-It Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 12- Texas vs. Wake Forest- The shocking blow out loss to Louisville drops the Demon Decaons out of the Orange Bowl but still playing in Florida.
Alamo Bowl- December 29th- Big 12 vs. Pac 12- Kansas State vs. UCLA
As we go through the final sets of games in our 2022 Week Nine Bowl Projections you’ll find we’ve made quite a few changes from last week.
Games Around Christmas
Myrtle Beach Bowl- December 19th- Pool vs. Pool- Arkansas State vs. Western Kentucky
Idaho Potato Bowl- December 20th-Mid-American vs. Mountain West-
Ball State vs. Wyoming
Boca Raton Bowl- December 20th- Pool vs. Pool- Miami (Ohio) vs. Rice
New Orleans Bowl- December 21st- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt
Coastal Carolina vs. Texas San-Antonio
Armed Forces Bowl- December 22nd-American vs. Pool- BYU vs. Cincinnati- As a result of their loss to Central Florida the Bearcats drop out of the Cotton Bowl this week.
Independence Bowl- December 23rd- American vs. Army- Army vs. East Carolina
Gasparilla Bowl- December 23rd- ACC/SEC vs. Pool
Louisville vs. Missouri- We’re pretty sure no one had the Cardinals throttling Wake Forest on their bingo card. The Tigers move back into our projections for the first time since early in the year.
Hawai’i Bowl- December 24th-Mountain West vs. Conference USA
Georgia Southern vs. San Jose State
Time to wrap our 2022 Week Nine Bowl Projections will the enormous slate of early season games. Of course that includes a whopping seven games on December 17th alone.
First Weekend Games
Bahamas Bowl- December 16th- Conference USA vs. Mid-American- Kent State vs. UTEP
Cure Bowl- December 16th- Pool vs. Pool- Appalachian State vs. Middle Tennessee
Fenway Bowl- December 17th- ACC vs. American- Houston vs. Pittsburgh
Frisco Bowl- December 17th- Pool vs. Pool- Memphis vs. Southern Mississippi
Celebration Bowl- December 17th- MEAC vs. SWAC- Jackson State vs. North Carolina Central
New Mexico Bowl- December 17th- Conference USA vs. Mountain West- Air Force vs. North Texas
Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl– December 17th- Mountain West vs. Pac-12- Boise State vs. Oregon State
Lending Tree Bowl- December 17th- Pool vs. Sun Belt- Eastern Michigan vs. Troy
Las Vegas Bowl- December 17th- SEC vs. Pac-12- Mississippi State vs. Washington State
Frisco Football Classic- Date TBA- Marshall vs. Fresno State- We’re making the call that this game will be created once again by ESPN.
Thanks for checking out our 2022 Week Nine Bowl Projections here at Last Word On College Football. We’ll be here next week and every week until the entire schedule is announced in December.
